1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to messaging, particularly to transmitting data files over a communication network.
2. Description of Related Art
In telecommunication networks, such as cellular wireless networks, various messaging services are available to the subscriber/users, as alternative means of communicating short of calling one another, at times when the initiating party and the intended recipient may not be simultaneously available for or may not desire real time voice communication to take place between them. Such messaging services include voicemail messaging, short message service (SMS) text messaging, multi-media messaging service (MMS), etc. Some of these services are carrier, provider, network or platform dependent (collectively referred hereinafter as network dependent, as opposed to network independent), and some are user device dependent. Network dependent refers to messaging services that would work in one network (e.g., carrier, provider, platform or physical network) but not another, because of differences in operating parameters, specification, limitations, and other characteristics among the different carriers, providers, platforms or physical networks. Such differences may include incompatibilities arising from underlying technologies, communication frequencies, communication platform which may be viewed as the underlying hardware and software that handles communication over a network, communication protocol which may be viewed as the way data is exchanged among user devices, or simply the physical or operational restrictions network providers and carriers imposed to distinguish their services.
For example, in cellular carrier networks, voicemail messaging has been network dependent. Each network may be associated with a different provider that implements a different hardware and/or software platform, and/or utilizes a different set of communication and/or data protocols. For voicemails, each cellular carrier (e.g., AT&T, Verizon, Cingular, etc.) maintains a proprietary voicemail system within its own carrier network. While a person in one cellular carrier network may call another person in another cellular carrier network to leave a voicemail message, voicemails cannot be transferred from one cellular carrier network to another by messaging. However, within the same cellular carrier network, a sender can record a message and forward the message to a designated recipient. Heretofore, voicemail messaging is not available across dissimilar cellular carrier networks and dissimilar platforms within the same network.
SMS text messaging is typically not network dependent. As long as a carrier offers SMS text messaging as a service to its customers, SMS text messaging is compatible over disparate cellular carrier networks. A sender in one network can send an SMS text message to a recipient in another network. Most cellular handsets are enabled with SMS text messaging function. However, SMS text messages have character limitations (typically 160 characters), and a sender may need to send multiple text messages to fully communicate his message. Furthermore, a sender is required to use the awkward text entry interface of a cellular phone to input his message. Voicemail messaging would be the more desirable option in some situations, subject to its network and platform dependency.
MMS offers additional functionalities to support messaging of multi-media files, such as audio, video, graphics, photos, images, music, and other types of digital data. MMS is user device and network dependent. However, while some of the modern cellular handsets may have the capabilities to handle MMS functions, not all handsets are enabled to do so. For a sender of a MMS message, he cannot be certain that the intended recipient has the appropriate handset on the appropriate network that is enabled to receive MMS message.
The above-mentioned incompatibility issues relating to the various messaging services are exacerbated when a sender wishes to send text messages, voice messages and/or multimedia files across disparate networks to disparate devices. The incompatibility issues are further exacerbated for messaging between different categories of communication networks, e.g., voicemail messaging cannot be conducted between a landline phone operating in a public switched telephone network (PSTN) and a cellular phone operating in a cellular network; a landline telephone cannot receive a text message. The differences between providers and devices can create incompatibilities that prevent the receipt of, for example, text messages, voice messages, and multimedia files, across disparate networks.
United Kingdom Patent Application Number 2,387,737 to Munnariz purportedly discloses a telephone message network that stores a voice message from a sender to a recipient. According to its abstract, the sender is prompted by the network to supply, with the voice message, information identifying the recipient, and the network sends a text message to the recipient announcing the existence of the voice message. When the recipient calls to retrieve her voice message, the network selects the appropriate voice message using calling line identity (CLI) to identify the calling device of the intended recipient of the message. The number called by the recipient to retrieve voice message is not uniquely associated with the voice message. Since any person may call the same number to retrieve their own messages, the system can only distinguish between the callers by the callers' CLI. This system does not actually authenticate the caller, as anyone calling with the correct calling device would be presumed to be the intended recipient of the message. Further, this system does not support other types of messaging, such as MMS.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide an improved messaging system that will enable a sender to send information including data files, such as SMS text messages, voice messages, multimedia files, image files, text files and executable files to a recipient who is not in the same carrier network as the sender.